Southborough wants injured cop back on the job

The local police union said grievances and unfair labor practice charges have been filed against Southborough in response to the town's demand that an injured patrolman return to work.

Evan Lips/Daily News staff

The local police union said grievances and unfair labor practice charges have been filed against Southborough in response to the town's demand that an injured patrolman return to work.

"Our contract does not allow the police chief to return an injured officer to light duty if he is taking a medication that impairs his performance," Local 167 President and Southborough Police Officer Mike Crenshaw wrote in a Sept. 24 e-mail.

Officer Scott Henderson was hurt in the line of duty March 31 when he slipped off a ladder while checking a burglar alarm. Crenshaw said Henderson hurt his shoulder and tried to return to full-time work after a brief recovery period.

"Officer Henderson's physician has advised that his injury will not heal on its own and requires surgery," Crenshaw said. "Nonetheless, Police Chief Jane Moran has repeatedly sent him letters and requests to return to light duty in violation of our contract."

Crenshaw said he suspects the town has spent thousands of dollars on lawyers to force an injured officer to work light duty.

"For the record, our attorney bill from March through August was $3,837.50 and $1,975 from August through September," Crenshaw wrote in a recent e-mail. "Most of the action picked up in June 2010 - all for 'light duty.' "

On Sept. 9 the Daily News requested copies of all legal invoices submitted to Southborough by attorney Dan Brown between March 31 and Sept. 9 after learning that Brown was handling the Henderson case.

On Sept. 23, Town Administrator Jean Kitchen released blacked-out copies of legal bills sent to the town by Collins, Loughran & Peloquin, the Norwood law firm where Brown works.

"Dan (Brown) is one of the associates at Collins, Loughran and Peloquin (their labor attorneys), and the bills are not broken out by associate," Kitchen wrote in a Sept. 23 e-mail.

Relevant parts of the invoice indicating where and how the money was spent were completely blacked out.

"We redacted the particular matters which are being worked on based on privacy and the attorney-client privilege," Kitchen said.

The invoice shows Collins, Loughran & Peloquin charged the town $9,900 between April 1 and July 31 for 60 hours of work.

Kitchen said an August invoice was not included because the town received the firm's bill after it received the Daily News' Freedom of Information request.

"And all I can tell you is that each amount represents a separate matter," Kitchen said. "I am sorry, but I cannot give you any more details."

Crenshaw said Henderson was prescribed a medication that could impair his performance.

"Officer Henderson has been prescribed Vicodin, and the chief has ordered him to see a town doctor in order to clear him for a return to light duty," Crenshaw wrote in an e-mail. "Additionally, the chief has ordered him to call her during the short time periods during which he is not under the effects of Vicodin, supposedly so she can order him to work light duty, even though he has told her that he's in extreme pain when not under the effects of Vicodin.

"For these reasons the union has been forced to file grievances and unfair labor practice charges, and the town is spending significant time and money to force an injured officer to perform sedentary work for a couple of hours per day."

According to Article 19 of the union's contract with the town, the police chief only can require an employee who was injured on duty to perform light duty if "that employee is not taking medication which would impair performance."

Moran said yesterday she could not discuss Henderson's status.

"This is a personnel matter which involves medical information and is the subject of pending litigation," Moran said.

Crenshaw said the situation is far from settled.

"It's moving to arbitration," he said. "It has cost both the union and the town thousands of dollars in legal fees."

(Evan Lips can be reached at 508-490-7461 or elips@cnc.com.)

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